The Birth of American
Modernism
(1915-1945)
“World War I . . . destroyed faith in
progress, but it did more than that—it
made clear to perceptive thinkers . . . that
violence prowled underneath man’s
apparent harmony and rationality.”
--William E. Leuchtenburg, The Perils of
Prosperity
Definition
Robert Wohl – “Modernism is a response
by clusters of intellectuals and artists to
the converging processes of
industrialization”
 In Other Words…


Modernism is the reaction of artists and
writers to the new society formed
because of industrialization.
Literary Modernism: 1915-1945
Aspects
-
high degree of experimentation.
characters most often alienated people searching
unsuccessfully for meaning and love in their lives
themes pulled from real life.
AFTER THE GREAT WAR
The devastation of World War I
brought about an end to the sense of
optimism that characterized the years
leading up to the war.
 This more negative, or realistic, view
of the world, and the technological
advances, gave birth to Modernism

Value Differences in the Modern
World
Pre-Modern World
Modern World (Early 20th
Century)
Ordered
Chaotic
Meaningful
Futile
Optimistic
Pessimistic
Stable
Fluctuating
Faith
Loss of faith
Morality/Values
Collapse of
Morality/Values
Clear Sense of Identity
Confused Sense of
Identity and Place in the
World
Philosophy and Theory:
A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE
INTELLECTUAL CURRENTS
WHICH INFLUENCED
MODERNISM
Major Influences
 WWI


32 countries and claimed the lives of over 20 million people
Signals an end to idealism and ushered in an era marked by
hedonism*, political corruption, and ruthless business practices
 The



Jazz Age / Roaring Twenties
“the greatest, gaudiest spree in history” (FSF)
Young people rebelling against past + tradition
Experimentation with fashion
Major Influences
 Prohibition (1920-1933)



Alcohol was made illegal
Bootleggers= sold alcohol anyway
Speakeasies= where alcohol was served despite prohibition
 New Era for Women



The right to vote (19th am.)
Flapper= “an emancipated young woman who embraced new
fashions and urban attitudes of the day”
More women working
Major Influences
 The Great Depression



Stock Market crashed in 1929
Banks failed, businesses floundered, workers lost job; 25%
unemployed
Farmers ruined and went West to find work. Tough times. Not many
jobs and too many people.
 The New Deal (FDR)

New Deal programs: relief for the hungry and homeless, recovery
for agriculture and business, and various economic reforms to
prevent such a severe depression from occurring again.
Topics of Modern Literature*****
Collectivism versus individualism
2. Disillusionment
3. Violence and alienation
4. Loss and despair
5. Breakdown of social norms and cultural sureties
6. Race and gender relations
7. The American Dream
8. Old Money vs. New Money
9. Moral Corruption
10. What is the importance of striving to accomplish
a lifelong dream?
11. What are the consequences of failure to
accomplish a lifelong dream?
1.
Theme of Alienation*****

Sense of alienation in
literature:


The character belongs to a
“lost generation” (Gertrude
Stein)
The character suffers from a
“dissociation of
sensibility”—separation of
thought from feeling (T. S.
Eliot)
Valorization of the Individual



Characters are heroic in the
face of a future they can’t
control.
Demonstrates the
uncertainty felt by
individuals living in this era.
Examples include Jay
Gatsby in The Great Gatsby,
Lt. Henry in A Farewell to
Arms
Urbanscapes


Life in the city differs
from life on the farm;
writers began to
explore city life.
Conflicts begin to
center on society.
Literary Styles of Modernism****
 Stream
of consciousness (SOC)
narration: a narrative mode
which seeks to portray an
individual’s point of view by
giving the written equivalent of
the character’s thought
processes, either through loose
interior monologue or in
connection to action.
Juxtaposition
Two images that are otherwise not
commonly brought together appear side by
side or structurally close together, thereby
forcing the reader to stop and reconsider
the meaning of the text through the
contrasting images, ideas, motifs, etc.
 For example, “He was slouched alertly” is a
paradoxical juxtaposition.

American Literary
Modernism:
MAJOR AUTHORS
The most dominant
literary figure
between the two
world wars.
Influential poet and
literary critic.
Conceives of the
poem as an object
demanding a fusion
and concentration of
intellect, feeling, and
experience.
Major Works:
Prufrock and Other
Observations (1917),
The Waste Land
(1922)
T.S. Eliot
Southern American
writer
Many works center
on the mythical
Yoknapatawpha
county
Experimental
techniques include
stream-ofconsciousness and
dislocation of
narrative time
Focus on issues of
sex, class, race
relations
The Sound and the
Fury (1929), As I Lay
Dying (1930),
Absalom, Absalom!
(1936)
William Faulkner
Expatriate Author
Coined the term “Lost
Generation”
Patron of authors and
artists as well as
artistic innovator
“Rose is a rose is a
rose is a rose.”
Major works: Three
Lives (1909), The
Making of Americans
(1925)
Gertrude Stein
Focus on Jazz Age
and Great Depression
Examination of
American materialism
Exploration of the
American dream
Major works: The
Great Gatsby (1925),
Tender is the Night
(1934)
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Ideal American Dream
Endless Opportunities— “New Eden”
 Progress—Life should keep getting
better and better
 The independent, self-reliant
individual will triumph

Characteristics of Modernism in American
Literature
Emphasis on bold experimentation in style
and form, reflecting the fragmentation of
society.


Example—There is no resolution in “A Worn Path”

Rejection of traditional themes and
subjects. Loss of faith in religion and
society.

Sense of disillusionment and loss of faith in
the American Dream
Rejection of the ideal hero as infallible
in favor of a hero who is flawed and
disillusioned but shows “grace under
pressure.”
 Interest in the inner workings of the
human mind, (stream of
consciousness) sometimes expressed
through new narrative techniques.


Examples—Hurston, Hemingway, Faulkner
What is Today’s American Dream?
“American modernist writers both echoed
and challenged the American Dream.
They constituted a broader, more
resonant voice than ever before, resulting
in a second American renaissance. With
all the changes, however, writers
continued to ask fundamental questions
about the meaning and purpose of human
existence.”
Cubism
Surrealism
Dali
Magritte
F. Scott Fitzgerald
1896 - 1940
"Show me a hero, and I will write you a tragedy."
Summary



Wrote five novels and
numerous short stories
during the 1920s and 1930s.
Portrayed extravagance and
carelessness of the Jazz
Age.
Authored The Great Gatsby,
often called the greatest
American novel of the 20th
century.
The American Dream
• Adams defines this concept : "The American Dream is
that dream of a land in which life should be better
and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity
for each according to ability or achievement. It is a
difficult dream for the European upper classes to
interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves
have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a
dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a
dream of social order in which each man and each
woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of
which they are innately capable, and be recognized by
others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous
circumstances of birth or position."
The American Dream
• The American Dream is ultimately about “the
right to live, to work, to be himself, and to
become whatever thing his manhood and his
vision can combine to make him." – Thomas
Wolfe
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=418
1996n&tag=related;photovideo
YouTube: To Live in the 1920s (6 minutes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=684n8FO68L
U&feature=related
The 1920’s: Nicknames
•
•
•
•
The Roaring 20’s
The Jazz Age
The Flapper Era
The Age of Wonderful Nonsense
What do these nicknames suggest about the time period?
Post WWI
• Physical & Spiritual Euphoria & Freedom
• Disregard for Pre-War Values
• Financial Freedom:
- Low interest / buying on credit
- Stock market growth
- Relative luxury for common people
Therefore, the 1920’s feel was:
•
•
•
•
Optimism
Freedom
Celebration
Positive feeling about the promises & potential of
new life and new values
BUT…
• Upon what were all of these great
feelings actually founded?
Answer: nothing “real”
•
•
•
•
Death of family & friends in War
Fewer jobs as Wartime production over
Women competing for jobs
Things owned / bought with “virtual money”
(stocks / credit & debt)
• Morally bankrupt society; no solid values
(carefree, silly, fun)
The American Dream…
…a misleading illusion
Color Symbolism
• Blue= Dreams (esp. eyes/Gatsby’s gardens)
• Yellow= Wealth (gold)
• Green= blue+ yellow (dreams plus wealth)
mysterious green light
• Grey= lack of blue, no dreams
• White= innocence
• Lavender= indulgence
• Red, wine colored, crimson= passion, sin
The Great Gatsby: Geography
The Great Gatsby: Geography




Pretty Southern belle whom Fitzgerald met while
stationed in Alabama
Energetic and imaginative
Turned Fitzgerald’s first proposal down
Later married and moved to New York
Symbols of the Jazz Age
Attractive and charming
 Legendary partiers
 Artistic ambition
 Drinking and recklessness
 Zelda’s mental breakdown
 Romance and tragedy

Fitzgerald in the 1930s
Debt, depression, poor
health, drinking
 Hollywood
 Died of heart attack in
1940 at 44
 Zelda died in a hospital
fire in 1947
 Work revived after his
death

Fitzgerald Background
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